Academics' Choice Award™ Winner

Geode: A Novel About Environmental Ethics

Description

When Mark heads out to a local pond to go fishing, he discovers that all of the fish are dead. His classmate Theo informs him that the incident is called a fish kill, and it was likely caused by pesticide runoff from a nearby farm. An ardent environmentalist, Theo also tells Mark about the new technology that her mother has been working on at the town's Nature Center, an AI chatbot called ChatGEODE. GEODE is an acronym for Great Environmentalists On Demand Electronically. And like a geode-a rock that reveals crystals inside when broken open-ChatGEODE holds within it a treasure: a storehouse of information collected from an array of individuals who promoted various ideas about the responsibility that humans have toward the natural world. And so launches Mark's exploration into environmental ethics.

As Mark learns about the environment, he discovers piles of a strange substance that lead him to a mysterious cave. Inside the cave are three glowing orbs. The orbs tell Mark that they are stars that have come to Earth to help humans deal with the crisis of climate change. They subsequently explain to him various theories about how to combat the problem of a rapidly changing climate, as well as why humans have not yet been able to do so. As he learns more, Mark becomes both hopeful and frustrated with what humans are doing with nature. Although he is sworn to secrecy, his frustration eventually leads him to bring Theo to the cave with him.

In the meantime, Theo, who is equal parts realist and activist, has been working on a kid-friendly chatbot of her own by tapping into her mother's database of information. Her goal is to help students like Mark and herself learn more about climate change and what they can do about it. Her knowledge on the subject and her desire to address it enable her to assist Mark in unraveling the mystery of the stars, as well as in charting a path forward as they strive to do their part to help solve the climate crisis.

This intriguing and compelling story includes an "Explore More" section at the end that will guide readers to think more deeply about the concepts in the novel. It contains short excerpts of important works written by the seven real-life thinkers, writers, and philosophers who appear in the novel, followed by discussion questions about those author's viewpoints. These questions will enable students to dig deeply into the issues, allowing them to formulate their own thoughts and opinions about possible solutions to the problem of climate change.